Lifetime’s ‘Devious Maids’ and ABC Family’s ‘The Fosters’ On the Rise

Both rookie dramas have grown sharply in key ratings categories over their June premieres

While CBS’ “Under the Dome” remains summer’s runaway rookie success, a pair of smaller, femme-focused cable newbies — Lifetime’s “Devious Maids” and ABC Family’s “The Fosters” — have impressed by been picking up steam in the weeks since their unspectacular premieres.

“Devious Maids,” the Marc Cherry-created sudser that was originally developed for ABC, averaged 2.78 million viewers on Sunday, a rise of 24% from the previous week (2.23 million) and a big 40% improvement over its June 23 premiere (1.99 million), according to Nielsen.

It has also been surging in key demos, going from a 0.65 rating in adults 18-49 for its premiere to a 0.99 rating on Sunday. Similarly, it went from a 1.09 in women 25-54 to a 1.45 on Sunday.

Over at ABC Family, “The Fosters” continues to look good as it winds down its rookie season. Monday’s eighth episode was the show’s most-watched yet (1.894 million) and its top-rated in adults 18-49 (0.77 rating), up more than 30% from its premiere in both categories.

It has hit highs in the network’s core demo of females 12-34 in three of the last for weeks and remains the summer’s top new cable series by this measure as well as overall viewers 12-34. Monday’s 2.09 rating in females 12-34 for “The Fosters” represented an 8% build on lead-in “Switched at Birth” (1.94) and was 50% higher than the show’s premiere score in the demo (1.39).

Showtime’s “Ray Donovan” is another first-year drama that has held up well. Its fourth-week averages on Sunday (0.58 rating in adults 18-49, 1.52 million viewers overall) were up vs. the previous week and by double-digit percentages over the show’s June 30 premiere.